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WASHINGTON— The U.S. Government Accountability Office was cited as issuing a Wednesday that found testing is too slow at times to prevent cattle from eating feed that might be contaminated, just one flaw in a program to help stop mad cow disease from spreading.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who sought the report, was cited as saying the feed safeguards are the most important firewall against mad cow disease, adding, "If FDA's testing program is not catching violations, and catching them in time, that needs to be corrected immediately."
FDA disputed the findings, arguing that the report unfairly focused on a small component of broad government efforts to stop mad cow disease.
GAO was further cited as finding that in half the feed samples analyzed, FDA took more than a month to determine whether banned cattle protein was present. Cattle feed is eaten quickly after it's manufactured, and the feed may have been consumed before tests are finished. The report examined 989 samples analyzed from August 2003 through June.
Investigators were further cited as finding the agency required no documentation of its reviews and that FDA officials were lax in overseeing the testing program.
The FDA was cited as responding in a response included in the GAO report that a timeframe for testing is not critical to minimizing cattle's exposure to potentially contaminated feed, writing, "FDA relies on its overall inspection program, rather than analytical methods alone, to enforce the feed ban." FDA also inspects feed mills and other firms subject to the feed ban.
On the Net:
General Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov
Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafet...fm?newsid=10922
